More than $100 trillion dollars will be handed down to heirs over the next couple of decades as the pace of the Great Wealth Transfer accelerates, according to a new report.
The research firm Cerulli Associates says $105 trillion will be passed on to heirs by 2048, while charities will receive $18 trillion over the same period.
Baby Boomers, the Silent Generation and other older generations will be the major benefactors.
“Nearly $100 trillion will be transferred from Baby Boomers and older generations, representing 81% of all transfers.
More than 50% of the overall total volume of transfers ($62 trillion) is expected to come from those who are currently high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW), which together make up only 2% of all households.”
Over the short term, generation X will benefit more than Millennials from the Great Wealth Transfer.
“Millennials will be inheriting the most of any generation over the course of the next 25 years ($46 trillion). However, Gen X stands to inherit the greatest portion of assets in the next 10 years, totaling $14 trillion to Millennials’ $8 trillion.”
Widows in the Baby Boomer and the Silent Generation as well as other older generations are set to receive about 38% of the wealth before it can get to heirs and charities, according to the report.
“Projections of horizontal, or intra-generational, transfers show that $54 trillion will be passed on to spouses before eventually transferring intergenerationally to heirs and to charities. Nearly $40 trillion of these spousal transfers will be going to widowed women in the Baby Boomer and older generations…”
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